Community

The future of an historic bridge that connected the Hudson House co-op apartments to the train station off the Hudson Line at the Ardsley-on-Hudson train station remains uncertain after it was destroyed in late January when a garbage truck slammed into it.

“There were no injuries, thank God,” said Irvington Police Chief Michael Cerone. “If it was a week day with commuters, the post office open and pedestrian traffic, it could have been worse.”  more »

A 58-year-old Irvington woman was indicted February 17 for embezzling more than $40 million since 2002 from union employee benefit funds she administered. She spent the money on horses, jewelry, vacations, cars, clothing and the mortgage on her village home, among other things.

Melissa G. King was charged in Manhattan federal court with one count of theft and embezzlement in connection with approximately $42 million she transferred from three Sandhogs’ Union accounts to bank accounts she controlled, and 11 counts of money laundering.

If convicted, King, who is currently free on $10 million bail, could face a maximum prison sentence of five years on the embezzlement count and 115 years for the 10 money laundering counts, along with a fine of $250,000.  more »

“Hollywood on the Hudson?” While that may be seen as a slight overstatement for a description of Tarrytown, the village has maintained its lure as a location for feature film production as evidenced by the recent filming downtown of scenes for “Henry’s Crime,” starring Keanu Reeves and James Caan.

The draw of movie producers to the community has brought calls for village authorities to tighten rules for parking production vehicles and setting up equipment on Tarrytown’s streets. But advocates of the movie filming say the benefits of film production for the village outweigh any problems it may create.  more »

A federal monitor wasted little time in sending Westchester County officials back to the drawing board after deeming an implementation plan to build 750 units of new and affordable housing “vague” and lacking “specificity with respect to accountability, time frames and processes.”

As part of an unprecedented $51.6 million settlement reached with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last August that requires Westchester to construct 750 fair and affordable housing units in predominantly white and affluent municipalities over the next seven years, the county was required to detail how it would comply by the end of January.  more »

When John Kapica decided to turn in his badge after 37 years with the Greenburgh Police Department, the last 17 as chief, his to-do list included spending time with his 10 grandchildren and working on his house that he built 22 years ago.

“I did not anticipate employment after I left Greenburgh,” said Kapica.  more »

There are no known Truffula Trees in Westchester County, but there is a LORAX, Dr. Seuss’s furry defender of flora featured in his famed children’s book of the same name. The 2010 incarnation of the LORAX is a committee of citizens from across the county, formed late last year amidst the growing controversy over Con Edison’s “scorched earth” tree-pruning practices around the utility’s transmission and distribution lines.  more »

An expanding pharmaceutical company, two Mexican restaurants, an insurance agency executive, and a charitable organization will be honored at the Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Breakfast March 18 at Tappan Hill.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Hudson Valley will be recognized as the Chamber’s “Organization of the Year” at the event. The charitable organization is dedicated to “grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”  more »

Encouraged by a series of state grants directed at projects on Tarrytown’s waterfront, village officials and other members of the Pierson Park planning committee are meeting in mid-March to begin the design blueprint for renovating the park.

A total of $178,000 in grants has been designated by the state for four projects, including an updated plan for the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, completing the design of a pedestrian tunnel under the Metro North Railroad tracks, the design of a parking lot for the Scenic Huxdson RiverWalk Park, and the Andres Brook-Tarrytown Lakes Trail extension that will improve access to the Hudson River.  more »

While rumbles of discontent with incumbent legislative bodies have echoed across the national political landscape, the opposite seems to be the case at the village level. In Irvington, Tarrytown, and Sleepy Hollow, all the candidates running to maintain their seats on the boards of trustees are uncontested in the March 16 election.

Voters in the three villages casting their ballots on election day will see no lines listing political opposition. The candidates see public satisfaction with their performances as the major reason for the lack of opponents and most said the results of their actions were more important than party labels in local elections.

Sleepy Hollow

In Sleepy Hollow, where some had anticipated opposition, it never materialized.  more »

Actor Christopher Reeve once said of his alter ego film character Superman: “I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

Those fortunate to know Lucas Goldbaum wouldn’t refer to him as ordinary, and Lucas wouldn’t refer to himself as a hero. For the many thousands of people from around the world who have come to know the 14-year-old outgoing, fun-loving boy from Sleepy Hollow that has been valiantly fighting for his life since diagnosed last year with a brain tumor, he is an inspiration.  more »

You can adopt a duck. If you do adopt a little, yellow rubber ducky, not only will you be helping the Rotary Club of the Tarrytowns achieve its charitable goals, but you may walk away from the Rotary’s Duck Derby at Patriot’s Park, April 24, with a $1,000 Amex card. That prize will go to the person who has adopted the winning duck in the grand final race of the Derby.

Held in collaboration with the Tarrytown YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day, the Derby may see as many as 2,000 duckies challenge for the Grand Prize, racing first in a series of heats prior to the final race in which winners of each heat will compete.  more »

It’s a celebration that will be crowded with many VIPs. No matter that most of them are long gone.

Then again, that’s par for the course at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which will, er, come alive April 3 as its 160th anniversary is marked.

Ceremonies will begin at 11 a.m. in the Washington Irving Chapel, with a proclamation being read from the state government to the Cemetery Board that will recognize the contributions the cemetery has made to the area.  more »

Imagine what it was like to be a young Monet or Van Gogh. What were they thinking when they drew their irises, bridges and sunflowers? How did each of these artists see the world? This year, young Irvington artists will get a chance to think about the local Nyack artist Edward Hopper. What were his lonely nighttime diners thinking?

These are some of the questions Hope Davis explores with Irvington School District parent volunteers during her 90-minute Eyes on ART training session. Eyes on ART is an appreciation program designed for students in grades K-5, organized by Davis and supported by the Irvington PTSA and Rivertown Arts Council.  more »

To see Roshon dart around his living room in Tarrytown with seemingly not a care in the world, it’s hard to imagine this seven-year-old bundle of energy was near death when he was rushed to the hospital with a stubborn bloody nose and was diagnosed with leukemia.

“He was a very ill boy. They had never seen a kid with a white blood count that high,” said Roshon’s great-grandmother and guardian Phyllis Stewart. “We weren’t sure he was going to live.”

His condition was so grave that the Maria Ferrara Children’s Center referred Roshon to the Hudson Valley Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Tarrytown, which has granted more than 1,700 wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.  more »

Limbs snapped, branches broken, trees fallen, roads blocked, downed wires, power outages and school closings; all the result of the huge storm that dumped record-breaking amounts of snow in the region. Tarrytown, Irvington and Sleepy Hollow were not spared, but Tarrytown appeared to be hit with the greatest loss of electric power.
 more »

The incumbent trustee candidates in Irvington, Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow appear to have a clear advantage in next month’s village balloting with little or no opposition. Although independent nominating petitions are possible through February 9, and write-in ballots are valid during the March 16 vote, the incumbents running in the three villages’ elections face no major party opposition.  more »

Concerned residents filled the library at the Jewish Community Center in Tarrytown last month in hopes of building a united front against proposed plans for the Tappan Zee Bridge that would disrupt their historic Irving neighborhood, which is home to more than 40 households.

“Our neighborhood is under siege,” said resident and meeting leader Tori Weisel. “We have to step in, have an active voice and hopefully wipe this off the table.”

Weisel referred to the latest round of three options set forth by the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Project. Option one calls for a large underground tunnel that would loop east of the neighborhood. The second option calls for a trestle bridge that would include an elevated train running above the existing train tracks.  more »

Steven Zuckerman was having a mid-life crisis -- maybe.

His wife, Sharon Zuckerman, explained. “Steven was looking for a change for a couple of years. Coming from a special events background, he wanted to do what was natural; the next step is what we call it.”

The germination of that “next step” is Life The Place To Be (2 Lawrence Street, Ardsley, (914) 591-4400, www.lifehtheplacetobe.com), a 29,000-square-foot family entertainment and event venue which the Irvington couple owns.

Steven Zuckerman looked at 52 buildings prior to selecting the location, and he and Sharon both agreed the building was the one for various reasons: it was big, close to home, centrally located, and had beautiful sky lights.  more »

A recently retired Tarrytown resident who said he liked to shop locally and dine at local restaurants has been rewarded for those preferences.

“I live right around the corner from Main Street and it’s very convenient for me, “ said Charles Fischetti, who is the lucky winner of the December 3/50 Project drawing.

“I’m very excited,’ Fischetto said when he learned that he had won $250 in gift certificates from the Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce.” I haven’t won anything in a long time.”  more »

Sleepy Hollow restaurant owners are getting a partial reprieve from having to swallow fully newly imposed sanitation pick-up rates that had more than doubled their fees of past years. The village had imposed the new rates and billed them initially late last year. That brought about a chorus of complaints that apparently help prompt Mayor Ken Wray and the Village Board to alter their plans.

The sanitation rates had been hiked for all property categories, from single homeowners to schools and housing developments, as the village attempted to keep up with its own rising costs.  more »

Despite its absence this winter in Tarrytown, Third Friday has not disappeared from the calendar. For now, it’s merely in hibernation.

“It won’t look the same as it has, but there will be a Third Friday again,” said Tarrytown Village Administrator Michael Blau.

Third Friday’s future came into question after Cappa Crucy & Co., the Pleasantville- firm hired to organize and run the event, told the village it would step down because of a lack of funding and grant money needed to keep Third Friday viable.

Blau said Cappa Crucy, which started running Third Friday last year, tried to take it in a different direction from when it started in 2003 and tried to diversify the events – each month had a theme – and attract more adults.  more »

Substandard playing fields. Inadequate gym space. Not enough access to the Hudson River.

Those were just some of the concerns raised by residents, Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown officials and school administrators regarding existing recreational facilities and needs in the community as part of an ongoing study.

The study, being conducted by Albany-based Laberge Group and funded by a grant from the New York State Department of State, will result in the creation of a Recreation Master Plan and recommendations on how recreation resources, facilities and staff can be shared.  more »

Three days after Daniel Goin died in his sleep at his home on Amos Street last month, the people who run the Dwyer & Vanderbilt Funeral Home had a problem. The turnout for the wake was immense. The parking lot was full. Broadway was choked.

Nobody did an official head count, but the overflow crowd just kept growing, mourners arriving in waves to honor the 58 years of life of a devoted hockey father, a playful soul and one of the best customers Bellas restaurant will ever have. Two eggs Sunnyside up, crisp bacon and wheat toast – that was Dan Goin’s stock order, as unwavering as his love of the New York Rangers.  more »

What residents have known for so long, first as an industrial wasteland and then a construction site, is finally emerging as a new neighborhood near the railroad station in Tarrytown. The extended RiverWalk and adjacent public park is taking shape too, so the waterfront will no longer be an isolated strip beyond the barren acres west of the railroad tracks. The first phase is already home to arriving families, although the restaurant and other commercial units are yet to open in the Stone House, the first building on West Main Street. Work is continuing too on the residents’ clubhouse.

The market has changed, though, and the developer – National RE/sources (NR) – is bringing forward revised plans for the next phase.  more »

Hundreds of mourners packed the Church of St. Teresa of Avila in Sleepy Hollow January 23 to pay their last respects to a United Nations diplomat and longtime Pocantico Hills resident who was killed in the earthquake in Haiti.

Luiz Carlos da Costa, 60, the highest ranking Brazilian in the United Nations, was found January 16, four days after the collapse of the Hotel Christopher in Port-au-Prince in Haiti, along with his superior, Tunesian Hedi Annabi.  more »

The three young men who started the part electronics, part computer consulting but all technology store in Tarrytown called Techworx met in Westchester but came from worlds apart.

Growing up in Jenin, 25-year-old Mohammed Atari shared the sense of hopelessness of a Palestinian teenager living in the Occupied West Bank. But he resolved to escape his circumstances by excelling in school. In 1999, at the age of 14, he caught a break that changed the direction of his life.  more »

Observed outside the ambiance of a medical facility, the hyperbaric chamber at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow might be mistaken for an underwater vehicle or a large bronze space capsule. The 28-foot long, nine-foot diameter configuration makes it the largest such chamber in the northeastern part of the United States. The unit weighs 50,000 pounds and the door alone tips the scale at 5,000 pounds.

An increasing list of ailments are being treated within the chamber, according to Dr. Owen J. O’Neill, medical director of the Hyperbaric Medicine at Phelps.  more »

It certainly wouldn’t be startling for Suzanne Fromer of Tarrytown or Heather Hewett of Sleepy Hollow to learn that, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, four out of every 100 children have some sort of food allergy.

After all, they both have two young children who have severe food allergies, which has forced them to become experts on the subject.

“I’ve learned far too much about allergies,” Fromer said. “All allergies are reactions to proteins in the food. There is false testing in food.”  more »

Ducky Derby Day is coming again in April. For the third consecutive year, The Rotary Club of the Tarrytown’s will be running its Rubber Ducky Derby in collaboration with the YMCA’s Healthy Kids’ Day on April 24 at Patriot’s Park. A $1,000 Amex Card, donated by Capri Pizza and Pasta, a gold sponsor of the event, will be awarded to the lucky person who has adopted the winning Duck in the Grand Prize race.

Some 2,000 Duckies are up for adoption and prizes will be awarded to the winning ducks in each of the heats leading up to the grand finale race. Prizes in those races are provided by the Tarrytown Sheraton Hotel and the Doubletree Hotel. Those victorious duckies will be competing in the final big prize competition.  more »

The movie “Henry’s Crime” is described as a romantic comedy, but it was no laughing matter for many Tarrytown merchants during the past month.
 more »